Say Goodbye to $100
By LindaOH
@LindaOHio (222285)
United States
June 26, 2020 2:23pm CST
I was scheduled to do a usability study of the Social Security Administration (SSA) website next week for a survey company. I was to receive a $100 Amazon reward for doing the study.
I tried to log onto my SSA account; but the information on file was too old; so I had to set up a new account. HOWEVER, when it came to the part where they ask security questions to confirm your identity, I was locked out of my account. They asked questions such as, "When you set up a credit card account in 2015, what was the name of the holding company?", etc. There were several questions like this. We have not applied for any new credit in any of the years specified.
Sooooo, I answered "No" to these questions....That's when I got locked out. It appears that someone may have hacked into our credit report accounts and used that information to set up a credit card????? I'll have to look into this. The only other option was to bring in a photo ID to the local Social Security office; however, they are only available by phone due to the pandemic. So I'm stuck.
So, the windup is that I had to cancel my participation in the study for next week. Boo hoo hoo! :-(
Photo Credit: Pixabay
12 people like this
13 responses
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
26 Jun 20
Now that I'm older, I've been getting accepted for a study from time to time; so I'll probably get another one in the future.
1 person likes this
@CarolDM (203396)
• Nashville, Tennessee
26 Jun 20
@LindaOHio Sounds good. Hope so.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
26 Jun 20
That is rather annoying. I do hope that your identity hasn't been stolen.
1 person likes this
@ScribbledAdNauseum (104615)
• United States
27 Jun 20
@LindaOHio I really hope it hasn't.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
27 Jun 20
@ScribbledAdNauseum Checked our credit score and report this morning. Everything looks OK.
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Jun 20
It sucks that you were locked out of your SSA account, but probably better that it happened before you started the survey and not while you were right in the middle of it, or even at the end of it.
I hope you're able to eventually get onto the site and not be locked out anymore.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128831)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Jun 20
@LindaOHio Wow, that puts you between a rock and a hard place. You would think they would have a plan in place to allow visits to the SSA by appointment only.
I went through the same thing this past week with our local health department. I manage our city's public swimming pools, and you have to have an annual operating permit in order to open. Well, our permits were due for renewal by June 30. I went to the health department to renew; they are closed to public access due to the pandemic (not the regular health department, but the division that deals with public bathing spaces). So I called, and they said I could go online to renew and pay the fees. But when I went online, I saw they charge a convenience fee, something that is against policy for government employees to pay. So I had to go up the chain of command to get permission to pay the convenience fees since I had no other alternative to renew our permits. Well, I finally got the permission I needed, so I went back online to renew. Typed in my credit card information, hit send, and it was rejected. Turns out, they take every form of online payment imaginable, except Visa. And all our city purchasing cards are Visa! So, thankfully, after making many phone calls to the health department asking for help, they finally agreed to set me up with an appointment to meet somebody in person there at their office so that I could make my payments and renew the operating permits. And lo and behold, they take Visa when you pay in person, just not when you try and pay online! What an ordeal!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
28 Jun 20
@moffittjc Holy cow! What a mess of red tape. The fact that they won't accept Visa online boggles the mind. I'm glad they finally got you in and you could pay the fees. Sheesh!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
28 Jun 20
Found out that I must go to the local SSA office and bring an ID with me in order to get back into my account. They can be reached by phone; but the office is closed until the restrictions are lifted.
1 person likes this
@sallypup (69160)
• Centralia, Washington
26 Jun 20
Oh no. You know, when hubby and I tried to set up his social security account on line, there were tons of questions. "Who did your mortgage?" We answered and they said we were wrong. It went on and on like that and yeah, we are locked out. Hubby did manage to apply for his retirement social security payment via the phone. The nearest real office is about 1.5 hour drive from our house. And just like him, cause he works for the state, the workers aren't there anyway. Every security question that we answered to the best of our remembering came out incorrect. A friend says we were scammed but I am positive we were on the gov. site.
1 person likes this
@sallypup (69160)
• Centralia, Washington
26 Jun 20
@LindaOHio Your experience sure sounded like what we went through. I hope your credit wasn't hacked.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
27 Jun 20
@sallypup I checked into it this morning. Everything seems to be OK. Whew!
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
26 Jun 20
I think our credit report sites may have been hacked. I am checking into that.
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
29 Jun 20
i am so sorry that happened. identity theft is a huge problem
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
29 Jun 20
I checked our credit rating and report; and everything looks OK.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
30 Jun 20
@DocAndersen I haven't figured it out yet.
1 person likes this
@DocAndersen (54399)
• United States
30 Jun 20
@LindaOHio interesting, i wonder what that was then
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
24 Jul 20
I hate when things like that happen. I just was offered a round table that would have paid very well but I did qualify because I don't work outside the home. My friend and I did one and we were paid $130 for two hours and they gave us the check as we left, now that was good.
1 person likes this
@BelleStarr (61463)
• United States
24 Jul 20
@LindaOHio Oh well done, that is a nice payment.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
24 Jul 20
They ended up using me anyway; and I got my $100 Amazon credit!
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (135601)
• Marion, Ohio
26 Jun 20
I have had questions that I never set for security on sites before. I think the wires just get crossed sometimes
1 person likes this
@lovebuglena (52154)
• Staten Island, New York
29 Jun 20
Oh, that sucks! Bummer to lose that $100.
On another note, hopefully, no one opened a credit card under your name.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
30 Jun 20
Our credit score and credit report look OK. The company called and said that they still want to use me; so we'll see how that works out.
@LindaOHio (222285)
• United States
23 Oct 20
As it turned out, they used me in the study anyway; and I earned my $100!!!! Win-win!
1 person likes this
@porwest (112780)
• United States
23 Oct 20
@LindaOHio Ah. Good news. Happy to hear it.
1 person likes this
